Tactical Application of Mounted Infantry

I’ve been researching on this topic for a while and this is my first post on the subject. I’m planning on making an introductory video. I am a horseback rider and compete at Cowboy Mounted Shooting as well as reenact as Civil War Cavalry, mainly as a Confederate but I’ll go Union if the numbers are needed. I’m a member of the Blackhorse Cavalry.

Given my real-world tactical background this has got my brain going into overdrive when you look at the potential application as mounted infantry.

I’ll be clear by stating that I am looking at applications as mounted infantry. I’m not talking about western cowboy, although all of this has applications. As part of my research, I purchased and read a book called Equus Men which is deeply interesting. It is about the Rhodesian Grey’s Scouts and and the bush war in Rhodesia in the 1970’s, and there are a number of great lessons to be learned from it.

Concerning the American Civil War, the Cavalry units were often used as mounted infantry, the horse giving them that aspect of tactical mobility that could bring the rapid-firing carbine against the enemy. I have read a number of historical accounts of different ways of waging that war and the opinions that surrounded it. When we reenact, we bring together many of those aspects but we do give a little too much play to the use of saber engagements when in fact they probably did not happen that often. But they are good for a modern crowd. I have read accounts that the issue saber was very hard to sharpen and did not fill the troopers with much confidence. For regular cavalry, it would look more along the lines of dismounting to bring the enemy under fire and then perhaps finish them with a close range charge, probably using pistols from horseback. For some of the Partisan Cavalry units, such as Mosby’s Rangers, they would never even carry a saber, and they would load up on as many pistols as they could for their raids. I’m sure there are many out there who will argue with my historical interpretation.

There are a number of very interesting aspects to the Equus Men. One of them concerns weight in the saddle. This is also a modern concern. In their research for this new unit at the time, they looked at a number of saddles and finally found a Civil War McClellan Saddle which they were able to recreate with fiberglass for a very lightweight version. They were not allowed to carry more than 40lbs on top of the horse, excepting the weight of the rider. That included the FN Rifle and about 5 magazines in a chest rig, and two rear-saddle mounted saddle bags. These aspects of weight are applicable to anything that you might be doing, and you have to consider aspects such as use of plate carriers versus chest rigs etc. If you are planning on a long patrol or one overnight, this will up the gear you might want to carry and possibly push you towards the use of pack mules or horses which will have implications for the type of patrol action you are conducting. You will have to consider rations and water not only for yourself but for your horse, and that will depend on time of year and conditions on the ground, such as availability of ground forage etc.

Will your horse go on a picket line? Eat from a nose bag? Can it be hobbled? Is it gun broke?

One of the things I noticed from reading Equus Men was that they were SUPPOSED to be mounted infantry but on many occasions they would be ambushed while on a mounted patrol. So much so that they were trained to dismount at the gallop. Ouch! These were obviously young men who could take the bumps! When I say ambushed, I mean by 1970’s / 1980’s modern soviet weapons: AK’s, RPK’s, RPG’s etc. So suddenly this massive amount of ordinance is flying at you and you have to get off the horse and fight. This meant that many of their horses, however ‘gun broke’ they were supposed to be, would panic and run and on many occasions were never to be seen again.

What I would like to do is make a video showing what a Civil War trooper would look like and the weapons that he would carry, which would be a saber, and black powder revolver(s) and a carbine. I would then like to contrast that with an interpretation of what a modern partisan mounted trooper might look like. I say partisan because I’m a civilian so this is what a partisan or militia trooper might look like. I might be wearing a light cavalry battle belt, and either a plate carrier or chest rig. Carrying a modern handgun and a rifle such as an AR15. I know that my horse is gun broke, but even so, I would like to use a suppressed weapon in order to reduce the overall noise, and it also means that I would not have to patrol with ear pro on, and neither would the horse – yes you do get ear pro for horses and some are less tolerant than others with it. If you do use a suppressor, you do have to remember that if you are caught in an ambush, it’s not the outgoing fire that you need to be worried about, but the sound of the incoming, which is going to be super loud and may well panic the horses. Hence, when at all possible, stage the horses before conducting any action in proximity to the enemy.

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